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This is Baye McNeil’s first book. It is discussing things such as his time as a child in New York and also after coming to Japan, etc. In his description of getting on the subway he starts off considering why there are empty seats next to him. And in that sees racial discrimination. Then this sentence, which I don’t want to misinterpret: 黒人への人種的偏見が空席となって現れると感じています。

His style is logical, emotional and poetic. If you take someone like me who is not used to English literature, it takes a great deal of time to read.

“He wrote about his childhood, his life in NY and then his life in Japan. He begins the book with the story of the “empty seat” next to him when he takes the subway. He feels it is racism and prejudice against black people. His writing style is logical, emotional and like a poem. If you are not used to read English, it takes time to read this book. He is forced to face prejudices because we are living together but people are different, as groups, religions and races. He also talks about his own prejudice. Beyond this, he thinks that people need to accept and face each other as equal people, with the help of love and friendship.”

This is Baye McNeil’s first work, where he writes about his experiences including his childhood in New York and his time spent in Japan. The book starts with the author contemplating his experiences on Japanese trains, where the seat next to him is always being left vacant, conveying to the reader how this stems from racial discrimination and prejudice towards black people. His style contains rational, emotional and poetic elements, and for an inexperienced reader of English like myself it took a substantial amount of time to get through the book. All people of all races are all brought up within their respective religious and ethnic frameworks and escaping prejudice is impossible, with even the author himself portraying his personal prejudices, past and present. The book goes on to conclude that to rise above prejudice and false assumptions, one must confront this traversing through love and friendship as a single magnanimous being.

Whoa! This is fantastic Paul! Thanks man! Just made me realize that I am far from being qualified to assess whose translatin is the best. May need to it together a blue ribbon commission lol thanks again man. Especially love that “magnanimous” ending. Was that a bit of poetic license there? (-;

Tony
(Never got round to reviewing it myself, so glad to be able to give something back.)

————————————–
by Hide

This is Baye McNiel’s first work.
He writes about his childhood,
growing up in New York, and coming to Japan.
His story begins when he notices an empty
seat beside him on the subway.
He feels this happens because of discrimination
and racial prejudice against black people.
His approach is logical, emotional, poetic, so it
may take a long time for readers (like me)
who are not used to English.
All people grow up in the framework of race, religion,
and nationality, so we cannot escape such prejudice.
The author realises and writes about his own prejudices,
and realises that as a person, to overcome those
prejudices and misconceptions takes love and friendship,
and accepting other people as your equals.

This is Baye McNeil’s first work. In it he writes about his childhood, experiences from his time in New York, things that have happened since he came to Japan, and more.

The narrative begins with his observation that the seats around him on the subways in Japan always seem to be empty. This is racial discrimination, he feels: prejudice against people of African descent appears in the form of these empty seats.

His writing style is at times logical, at times emotional, at times poetic, making this a book that takes some time to read if you’re not used to English (like me).

All people grow up within frameworks of race, religion, ethnicity, and the like. This forms our personalities and there is no escape from the prejudices that come with them. The author writes about his realization that he, too, bears prejudices within him. To go beyond these prejudices, these ideas we cling to, his work hints, we must find our place as an individual human and face other humans on an equal footing, through love and friendship.﻿